Dozens of MSPs who are leaving Holyrood are receiving a huge boost to their ‘golden goodbye’ payments - thanks to a pay rise introduced just DAYS before they quit.

An unprecedented 42 MSPs have decided not to stand for re-election in Thursday’s Scottish Parliament election.

But unlike most employees - who receive nothing if they hand in their notice - they are entitled to generous ‘resettlement grants’ funded by taxpayers.

The MSPs officially stood down when the Scottish Parliament was officially dissolved on April 9.

Yet just eight days earlier - on April 1 - a pay-rise came into effect that adds thousands to the farewell payments of the departing parliamentarians.

As a result, former First Ministers Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf will each walk away with an eye-watering £77,711 - which is £3,211 more than they would have received without the last-minute jump in salary.

The highest handout goes to the parliament’s outgoing presiding officer, Green MSP Alison Johnstone, will now be handed a payout worth a breath-taking £106,911.

Without the pay-rise, her golden goodbye would have been £11,595 less.

Resettlement grants - which are intended to help MSPs re-adjust to life outside politics - are based on the number of years served at Holyrood, plus an additional payment for government ministers.

Thanks to the pay rise, former Finance Secretary Shona Robison and Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop will each see their golden goodbyes jump £7,399 to £92,311.

The additional drain on the public purse comes at a time when many households across the country are feeling the squeeze from higher rates of Scottish income tax, soaring council tax and increased energy bills.

Critics have slammed the ‘sneaky’ pay-rise that benefits the mass exodus of MSPs.

Jonathan Eida, researcher at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Taxpayers will be absolutely sickened to see Holyrood’s departing politicians laughing all the way to the bank, bankrolled by a sneaky last-minute pay rise.

‘In the real world, nobody gets a massive golden goodbye simply for quitting their job. 

To ram through a pay hike just eight days before parliament dissolves is a shameless insult to hard-working Scots and proves that the Holyrood gravy train is completely derailed.’

He added: ‘Taxpayers are sick and tired of funding these bloated resettlement grants. It’s high time this system was overhauled.’

Resettlement grants are calculated as one month’s pay for every year served as an MSP - but with a minimum guaranteed pay-out of six months (amounting to £38,855) and a maximum of one year’s salary (now £77,711).

Any junior ministers who quit receive an extra £9,147, while Cabinet Secretaries receive an additional boost worth £14,600.

Thanks to the last-minute pay-rise, the total bill for resettlement grants for the 42 MSPs now amounts to £2.78million.

A total of 25 SNP MSPs are stepping down at the election - including four Cabinet Secretaries and three junior ministers from John Swinney’s government.

As well as Ms Robison and Ms Hyslop, Holyrood’s deputy presiding officer - SNP MSP Annabelle Ewing - plus parliamentary business minister Graeme Dey and business minister Richard Lochhead are all quitting. Thanks to the pay rise, each will now receive £86,858.

Other senior figures in Mr Swinney’s government who are standing down include Economy Secretary and Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes, who will receive a pay-out of £79,359 - as will Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon.

Among those who will receive a full year’s pay - now worth £77,711 - when standing down is former Health Secretary Michael Matheson, who quit after claiming £11,000 in expenses to cover roaming charges run up by his sons watching football on a parliamentary iPad during a family Christmas holiday in Morocco. 

He was caught in a lie after claiming the bill was the result of him using the iPad for constituency business.

Former First Minister and SNP leader Ms Sturgeon will also collect a full year’s salary. After stepping down as First Minister in March 2023, she received an ‘officeholder resettlement grant’ of £64,378. 

Later, she received an advance of £300,000 from a publisher for her memoirs, which she wrote while continuing to collect her salary as a backbench MSP.

Meanwhile six Tory MSPs are quitting, as well as five Labour, one LibDem and five independents.

The overall bill for golden goodbyes may well be boosted even further - as any MSPs who are contesting the election but who lose their seats will also be entitled to pay-outs.

The 4.3 per cent pay-rise for MSPs which was implemented from April 1 was signed off earlier this year by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, the cross-party group responsible for running Holyrood.

At the time, Jackson Carlaw - the Tory member of the group - said that MSPs’ pay had not kept up with inflation and that, despite the rise, would remain lower than the salaries of MPs and members of the Welsh Senedd.

He told Holyrood’s finance committee: ‘Over the period 2021-22 to 2026-27, MSP pay is lagging 8.2 percentage points behind the consumer price index, which equates to around £5,300 over the period.

‘Had members’ salaries risen in line with inflation, they would now be £83,000 rather than £77,711.’

MPs at Westminster are currently paid £93,904.

Members of the Welsh Senedd are to receive a pay rise that will take their salary to £79,817. But unlike at Holyrood, the pay rise won’t be introduced until after this month’s Welsh elections.